That’s the state law allowing parents to take over a failing school and force a complete overhaul, so long as a majority of parents have sought change through a petition drive.

But just as school board member Steve Zimmer – who won approval of establishing guidelines back in June – led a 5-2 board vote to approve the guidelines, a new set of concerns became evident.

LA Unified’s Chief of Intensive Support and Instruction, Donna Muncey, suggested that California’s plan to dump standardized tests for the current school year may have an unforeseen impact on parent trigger applications.

Schools only become eligible for a parent trigger after they are identified by the state as failing, based on Academic Performance Index and Adequate Yearly Progress scores, which are usually released in September.

“That’s what sets the petition gathering [for a parent trigger] in motion,” Muncey said. “So usually, organizers collect signatures from the time those scores come out through May at the latest.”

If the petition drive succeeds, the process to invoke the law moves forward and a new plan for the following school year is devised. If the effort fails, organizers scrap the signatures, wait for a new round of standardized test scores and start over.

But with no new API or AYP scores on the horizon for the 2013-14 school year as the state shifts to the Common Core protocols and with no list of “subject schools,” Muncey said, “Then there’s the potential that the petition gathering process might spread over two years.”

A senior district official put it this way: Without standardized test scores no schools can be identified as failing and be made eligible for parent trigger.

“There’s an argument that there wouldn’t be subject schools next year and all parent trigger applications would be in abeyance,” the official said.

“Because the law is so new and no one’s ever done this before, we just don’t know the answers,” Muncey added. “But it’s at least a question we should be asking.”

Previous Posts: ‘Parent Trigger‘ Doc in Final LA Showing With Director Q&A ; Haddon Parents Abandon Trigger, Still Get Changes; Miller Joins Parent Revolution Celebrating Parents, Triggers

As you can see, LAUSD’s API score showed significant improvement, climbing 16 points to reach 745, but was still below California’s statewide goal for an 800 API score. When it came to the district’s AYP score, which is a broader federal measure of how a school district is progressing, LAUSD did not meet AYP target goals for student performance or graduation rates. LAUSD did, however, meet participation rates in math and English/language arts.

LAUSD was not alone in its struggle to meet AYP goals, and both AYP and API are incomplete measures of school effectiveness.

Previous posts: No NCLB Waiver — No “Freeze”, Testing Problems at 2 LAUSD Schools

Under the new law, supported by LAUSD and an array of business groups, student test scores will account for no more than 60% of high school API scores, leaving room for other factors in assessing a school’s success. The new API won’t start until 2016. Senate majority leader Darrell Steinberg, who sponsored the bill, said in a statement:

“For years, ‘teaching to the test’ has become more than a worn cliche because 100% of the API relied on bubble tests scores in limited subject areas. But life is not a bubble test and that system has failed our kids. By balancing testing with factors like graduation rates, and measuring how prepared our students are for entering college and the workforce, SB 1458 will spur the system into delivering higher quality education combining real-world relevance and academic rigor.”

So what will comprise the other 40% of API scores? The bill leaves that up to the State Board of Education, although it could include graduation and dropout rates, Advanced Placement test scores, and the number of students moving on to four-year universities.

Over at Ed Source, John Fensterwald writes:

“SB 1458 reflected widespread frustration that the heavy weight given to multiple-choice reading and math exams was narrowing the focus on what was taught, encouraged weeks of test prep, and distorted priorities, with science, the arts, and vocational and career tech programs given short shrift. That’s why SB 1458 had strong support in the business community, with regional workforce organizations and the California Manufacturers and Technology Association among those behind it.”

The API Index is the single number used to reflect a school’s progress, based on statewide testing. Traditionally timed to coincide with the start of the school year, the API release has instead been pushed to October 3, 2012.  That’s an additional month after the release of individual test score results — which have also been postponed — and are now due on August 31st. (Los Angeles Times)

According to the CDE, more time is needed to investigate last spring’s testing scandal – when students allegedly took hundreds of photos of the standardized test and posted them on social networking sites. If you don’t have time to hunt down CDE’s buried press release, click here.